The Saint’s Manual for Redemption - Chapter 59

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 59
Arden approached the Saint Statue without hesitation, his gaze piercing directly through to my hiding place.
Come to think of it, there was no reason to hide like this at all. Realizing this too late, I emerged from my concealment a beat behind.
“……Your Highness?”
His eyes widened sharply. The wariness and killing intent that had gripped him dissolved at once, and his hand resting on the sword hilt went slack.
It was only the briefest moment, but I saw it clearly. Surprise, relief, and something else mingled between them—an emotion I couldn’t quite name.
“What’s with that expression?”
Caught red-handed observing him, I folded my arms across my chest, feeling oddly guilty.
“Did you think I was an assassin or something?”
“……No, Your Highness.”
He cleared his throat once and straightened his posture.
“Why are you sneaking over to make a flower offering to the Third Saint’s Statue in the middle of the night? You could do it tomorrow in daylight.”
“And what brings Your Highness to walk this far in the depths of night?”
At Arden’s question, I glanced away for a moment, then shrugged as if there was no help for it.
“Well…… I just wanted to take a few flowers.”
When I spoke the truth plainly, his expression turned subtly sour. It was the look of someone thinking this wasn’t quite the sort of reason a Saint would have.
“I thought you preferred lily flowers?”
It seemed he’d gotten the wrong impression from the fact that my room was decorated entirely with lilies.
“I don’t really like lilies.”
I cut the matter short at once.
“The Main Temple keeps filling my room with lilies—I never asked for that. I’d appreciate it if people would respect my actual preferences.”
He gazed silently at the Saint Statue for a moment. Then he picked up the pale rose flower that had been left at the statue’s feet. His fingertips were careful, as if he were not handling a flower at all, but some memory.
And then, quietly, he offered me the rose.
“Rather than a flower offering to a statue crafted by later generations based on mere historical record—and not even an actual tomb of the departed—I thought it would be far better for it to grace Your Highness’s chamber.”
Looking at Arden’s face, which bore such a striking resemblance to Valente, I felt an odd sensation, as though I were receiving a flower offering from Valente himself.
Valente had died before me. So he could never offer flowers at the anniversary of my death. Never.
That was a fact that would not change.
If anything, I was the one who placed flowers at the tomb of my dead former lover. Even though we had parted, affection remained.
That’s why we fought so bitterly. It was a terribly childish way we had of confirming each other’s hearts even after we’d separated.
Isn’t it said that the opposite of love is indifference? We never managed to become indifferent to each other, and so we held on to each other in that way.
I took the flower without speaking. A faint fragrance seeped through the pale rose petals.
……It was a truly strange night.
Arden escorted me to my chamber in silence.
The Main Temple at night was hushed in a way the daytime never was, and as we walked the long corridor, only our footsteps echoed softly. It was a silence that needed no words, and it did not feel awkward. Rather, it felt comfortable.
As I opened the door, the fragrance of lily flowers that filled the spacious room came rushing forward first. Vases arranged throughout held lilies in abundance.
Someday I’d take every last one of those wretched flowers to the Archbishop’s office and set them ablaze, I swear.
Arden scanned the room briefly, exhaled a short sigh, and moved without a word. One by one, he picked up the vases and quietly began carrying them out of the room.
The glass vessels filled with lilies disappeared into the corridor in succession, and the air in the room grew lighter by degrees.
I watched him quietly, then approached the simple vase I’d left empty in preparation for displaying the flowers I’d brought in secret.
The single pale rose I’d been gripping tightly in my hand I slowly placed into the vase. The flower petals brushed against my fingers. Though it was only one bloom, a familiar, serene rose fragrance seemed to spread through the room in place of the lily scent.
When Arden returned after carrying out the last vase, the room had become far tidier than before.
He gazed at the pale rose in the vase for a moment, then withdrew his gaze and offered me a good evening.
“Have a good night.”
The next morning.
In the spaces throughout the room that had certainly been empty the day before, pristine vases of white lilies stood arranged once more. Beside the bed, by the window, atop the mantelpiece—everywhere, with remarkable diligence.
I stood in silence observing the sight for a moment, then glanced toward the door. At that very moment, Rillet appeared carrying a water bucket and our eyes met.
“Ah, Your Highness. Good morning.”
“Rillet.”
I called out as calmly as I could manage.
“Did you happen to move those lilies back in?”
“Yes! I found them all lined up outside the door this morning, so I brought them all back in!”
“Those were…… deliberately taken out.”
The moment he heard those words, Rillet’s face transformed to look exactly like a tanuki who had gotten its cotton candy rained on.
Just then, a knock came at the door, and it opened slightly as Arden poked his head in to ask a question.
“Your Highness, the lily vases we left outside your room—”
His words cut off abruptly.
The door opened wider, and the full view of the room filled with lilies entered his vision. Behind him, looking bewildered, stood his fellow Holy Knights.
“I’ll move them back outside.”
He rubbed the bridge of his nose a couple of times, then said so and without hesitation began picking up the nearest vase. The Holy Knights behind him naturally fell into step alongside him.
Rillet, sensing the awkwardness, sheepishly picked up one of the lily vases he’d carried in.
“I’ll help too.”
Watching Rillet join the procession to discard the Lily Flowers, I shook my head in dismay. Why was there no middle ground?
***
Four days after the Saint’s Festival ended, a Sealed Letter bearing the Second Prince’s seal arrived at my chamber. My fingers moved slowly as I broke it open. Ugh, I really despised the sight of this.
The moment I unfolded it, the seal’s direction told me everything. Courteous phrasing, respectful tone, and beneath it all, a barely concealed urgency.
“So he’s noticed I’m feeling him out? Now he’s pressing me with an Engagement Demand?”
I covered the letter and smiled crookedly. The laugh was light, but my thoughts were not.
Arden paused briefly before speaking.
“However, if His Majesty pushes through with an imperial decree, our side will be placed in a difficult position.”
“That’s true. If the Temple Order backed me, it might be different. But they’d sooner push me forward than shield me—they’ll pressure me to obey the imperial word.”
A sigh escaped me unbidden. I leaned back in my chair and gazed at the ceiling. The Imperial Court, the Temple Order, and myself—all three of us held each other in check while simultaneously trying to exploit one another.
“While I’m building my influence within the Temple Order……”
I tapped the table with my fingertip, murmuring to myself.
“Is there no one I can set against the Second Prince? Someone he can’t simply suppress, yet whom I could use to counter him—hmm……”
My words trailed off. No suitable name came to mind. The Third Prince was only seven years old this year—far too young.
“Perhaps the First Prince, Your Highness?”
To Arden’s unusually simplistic answer, I immediately shook my head.
As if the First Prince, who enjoyed the Temple Order’s support, would cooperate with me—someone the Temple Order saw as a thorn in its side.
Still, I couldn’t fault Arden’s reasoning. I myself had no insight into the matter, and Arden, similarly confined to the Main Temple, couldn’t be expected to fare better.
Just then, a knock sounded. Rillet entered, set down another letter, and withdrew.
The moment I saw the seal on the envelope, I knew at once.
It was from House of Lebon.
The envelope was thick. Inside lay a carefully organized financial statement for a donation, along with a report surveying the surrounding fiefs.
The form was nominally a “voluntary offering.” But the intent beneath was far too blatant.
A bribe, plain and simple. To deliver it so directly, straight at me—Lebon certainly had style.
“This one shows sincerity.”
I unfolded the report disguised as a letter and scanned it.
“It seems the Count of Lebon intends to stand firmly on your side, my lady.”
“No matter how generous a patron the Count of Lebon may be to the Temple Order, he alone isn’t enough. And he’s not the type to pour all his offerings solely into my coffers.”
The Second Prince is pressing forward, the Temple Order seeks to push me aside, and the Imperial Court divides in different directions. The fact that figures like the Count of Lebon are beginning to attach themselves to me one by one means—
the game is far from over.
“An Engagement Demand, then…… I should send word to the Second Prince to wait a little longer.”
I looked up at Arden, smirking as I added:
“I think I’ve just found a card worth playing.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————